DJ Massari dove head first into the full two day Portola Festival experience this year and managed to grab a talk with Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul while enjoying the festivities. Tune in on Thursday, October 26th @ 4:30PM to hear their conversation.
Cultural appropriation and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album, Tropical Dancer.
Featuring standout singles ‘Blenda’, ‘HAHA’, ‘Thank You’, ‘Ceci n’est pas un cliche’ and today’s focus track ‘Making Sense Stop’, Topical Dancer – which cements Charlotte and Bolis as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.”
Interview with Hemlocke Springs
Jack The Stripper recently hung out with weirdo indie pop artist, Hemlocke Springs. Listen to their conversation on Monday, October 23rd @ 6:30PM.
Hemlocke Springs is Isimeme ‘Naomi’ Udu – the first-generation American daughter of Nigerian parents, raised on the outskirts of Charlotte, NC. Having just completed a master’s degree in medical informatics at Dartmouth earlier this year, Naomi is now staring at the possibility of an entirely surprising and major music career, based on a flawless series of intoxicating and idiosyncratic pop songs that have not only earned millions of streams but also the admiration of some of music’s biggest names.
Her newly announced EP, going…going…GONE!, is the first body of work Hemlocke Springs is releasing with 7 infectious songs showcasing her knack for creating heartfelt indie-pop bangers. She tells us “the songs from going…going…GONE! serve as records of my thoughts as I transitioned from the teenage/young-adult phase to adulthood. Sure, at times I sound a bit silly, but I think it’s used as a way to cover up impending fears that are only bound to grow as I get older. What better way to deal with that than singing to a beat with self-depreciating lyrics?”
Interview with abracadabra
On Monday, October 23rd @ 11AM, ((echoplex)) hosts Hannah Skelton & Chris Niles of Oakland based band, abracadabra. Tune in to hear all about the duo’s recent album, Shapes & Colors and their upcoming show at Thee Parkside in SF on November 8th.
abracadabra’s Shapes & Colors is a dazzling collage of psych-fuelled synthscapes and contemporary Baroque-pop of anti-capitalist movements and escapism, precisely pieced around their own working lives in a blue-collar town.
In the heart of Oakland’s industrial Jingletown above a former auto-repair shop in what was once a mechanics’ break room where poker rounds ensued, Hannah Skelton (Vocals, Synthesizers) and Chris Niles, (Bass, Synthesizers) constructed the angular 80s-tinged anthems (think John Hughes montages to Talking Heads) of their new album, to positively offset the pandemic’s amplification of dysfunctional society. “It reflects our current reality: a huge mess that is systematically broken but isn’t entirely lost,” Hannah tells. “We’re inviting listeners to conjure up every drop of hope and willpower left inside them, pour that into the giant vat of anger and frustration bubbling inside us all, and with this potion collectively enact the necessary change to bring love and light into this dark space.”
Interview with G Flip
Join Fizz on Wednesday, October 25th @ 8:30PM to hear their conversation with Australian singer, songwriter, producer, drummer, and musician, G Flip, ahead of their show at Rickshaw Stop in SF on October 26th.
Originally a session drummer by trade, G Flip’s music starts from the drums up. Lyrically, they write of relationships, heartbreak, and acceptance. Authentic, relatable and always energetic, G Flip is a bonafide powerhouse.
Says G Flip, “When I was searching for an idol as a kid, I couldn’t find someone that resonated with me. All the females on the screen were sexy or sexualised. I struggled with my sexual identity and gender identity for years and years because there wasn’t representation for me when I was younger.I wish I had a non binary, gay, lead singing drummer to watch because it would have calmed the dark, confused voices in my head that told me I didn’t belong anywhere as my authentic self. If I am able to calm those voices for someone else, my job on this planet is done.
The new music hits harder: there are more drums, it’s tougher, there’s angst, there’s way more rock influence which actually makes sense as that’s always been what I grew up listening to and playing. It’s grittier. I wanna be a voice for the non binary/queer community. I wanna fill the gap as the next lead singing drummer. I wanna make art that matters.”
New album, DRUMMER, is out now on Future Classic Records.
Interview with TV Smith
Tune in on Wednesday, October 18, at 4:30pm to hear Tiger Lily in conversation with singer/songwriter TV Smith, perhaps best known for his late 1970s English punk band The Adverts. He is currently on tour and performs at the Great American Music Hall on Tuesday, October 17.
TV Smith was the founding member, singer, and songwriter for the Adverts, who formed in late 1976 and were one of the leading bands in the first wave of British punk rock. In early 1977, they gained cult success with their Stiff Records single “One Chord Wonders.” Their next release, “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes” became a hit, leading to radio and TV appearances and extensive media interest in the U.K. The album that followed in early 1978, Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts, is still considered a classic of the era and is often cited as one of the 20 best punk albums ever released. The Adverts released one more album, Cast Of Thousands, before splitting in 1979.
Since the Adverts’ breakup, TV formed TV Smith’s Explorers and then Cheap before performing his first gigs as a solo artist in the early 1990s and releasing a succession of albums. His latest release, A DFFRNT WRLD, is a collaboration with Doctors Of Madness frontman and founder Richard Strange.
Interview with Slow Pulp
Join Astral Projection on Sunday, October 22nd @ 4PM to hear their conversation with Wisconsin-bred, Chicago-based four-piece, Slow Pulp.
Vocalist/lyricist Emily Massey, guitarist/producer Henry Stoehr, bassist Alex Leeds, and drummer Teddy Mathews have an electric chemistry, one that allows them to nimbly reach new sonic heights across their new album, Yard. Building upon the sticky hooks and dreamy rock seen in their earlier music, Yard spans listless guitar, a raw-to-the-bone piano ballad, and belt-along worthy pop-punk to craft a bigger sound.
On Yard, Slow Pulp nestles comfortably into pockets of nuance, impressions, contradictions—sonics and lyrics finessed together to bottle the specific tension of a feeling you’ve never quite been able to find the right words for. In that regard, listening to Slow Pulp can feel like being in a room with someone who’s known you so long that they can read your every micro-expression and pinpoint exactly how you’re feeling before you can. Perhaps this spawns from the band’s own shared history and chemistry; in various ways, the four of them grew up—are still growing up—together.